bend it like Beckham

present singular third person bends it like Beckham · participle present bending it like Beckham · participle past bent it like Beckham · past bent it like Beckham

1. intransitiveball gamesTo kick a football (soccer ball), especially during a free kick, in a manner which causes it to move in a curve rather than in a straight line.

   Bud [a dog] harried the ball across the garden. He dribbled it with his nose, bending it like Beckham.

   2002, Jenny Oldfield, “Saturday, May 26th”, in My Little Life: When Shah Went Weird, London: Hodder Children’s Books, Hodder Headline, →ISBN, page 37

   5 more examples

   The whole of England held its breath as [David] Beckham stepped back, looked up, paused, and, well, bent it like Beckham into the top corner. The nation's roofs lifted off. […] I too leapt into the air and jumped for joy when Beckham's shot hit the back of the net.

   2002, John [Peter] Sugden, “Five Past One, September 2001”, in Scum Airways: Inside Football’s Underground Economy, Edinburgh; London: Mainstream Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 177

   David Beckham, for example, is known for his free kicks. After team training, he practices free kick after free kick after free kick—just him, the ball, goal, and a movable wall. He practices well after his teammates have showered and left the ground. Like the movie title says, "Nobody bends it like Beckham" (though the Brazilians might debate that statement). That kind of skill is not genetic; it is from deliberate practice and a lot of it.

   2007, Donald T. Kirkendall, William E. Garrett Jr., “Introduction”, in The Complete Guide to Soccer Fitness & Injury Prevention: A Handbook for Players, Parents, and Coaches, Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, →ISBN, page 18

   How Kieran Trippier bent it like Beckham to score England's brilliant World Cup opener against Croatia [title] […] That was an old school free-kick from Kieran Trippier, straight out of the David Beckham playbook. His aim is to get as much whip and dip on the ball as possible. Trippier addresses the side of the ball, plants his left foot alongside it and his right takes care of the rest. The way he wraps his foot around the ball generates a top-spin effect, like a sweetly struck forehand from Rafael Nadal.

   2018 July 12, Jamie Redknapp, “How Kieran Trippier bent it like Beckham to score England's brilliant World Cup opener against Croatia”, in Daily Mail, London: DMG Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 31 Mar 2025

   Not even a Chinese philosopher can meditate endlessly on gravel so we get the ball next. After a spell of bending it like Beckham, dribbling around two hot Pyreneans who have seen it all before, we take position at opposite sides of a plastic sunlounger, tilted to optimal ball-slide angle.

   2021, Jean Gill, “Examining Gravel and Live-heading Roses”, in True Colours: Six Books Drawn from Life […], [United States]: The 13th Sign, →ISBN

   England's David Beckham and Brazil's Roberto Carlos were purveoyrs of the so-called ‘banana kick’ – where the ball curves outrageously to deceive the goalkeeper. Being able to ‘bend it like Beckham’ is a case of adding rotation to the ball as it moves, which can be done by kicking it off-centre.

   2024 April 7, Jonathan Chadwick, “How to bend it like Beckham: Scientists reveal the formula for a winning football match – and why players should NEVER aim for the centre in penalties”, in Daily Mail, London: DMG Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 04 Mar 2025